Chapter 197 - Chapter 197: I’m Picky About Food and People
Chapter 197: I’m Picky About Food and People
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Ji Chi’s stomachache was genuine, dulling his ability to think. Leaning back in his chair, his temples throbbed with pain. Jiang Junlin unknowingly struck a chord with a hidden nerve within him.
“Why?” Ji Chi’s vulnerability showed, “If that’s the case, 1 should have been open from the start, and 1 wouldn’t have any illusions.”
“Between you and me, there’s always a difference,” Jiang Junlin softly uttered. He took off his glasses, rubbed his forehead, appearing troubled. Approaching, he gently massaged Ji Chi’s painful stomach, then sat on the single bed, leaning over to look at him. “Ji Chi, you’re different from others.”
A smile played at the corners of Ji Chi’s lips, coated with a layer of watery light, making it hard to discern. “Because 1 can serve President Jiang so well, am 1 different from others?”
Jiang Junlin’s hand hesitated for a moment, then clenched into a fist against Ji Chi’s abdomen. He pressed down firmly, intensifying Ji Chi’s stomachache to the point of almost spasming. Ji Chi felt a peculiar pleasure tingling through his scalp.
He looked up at Jiang Junlin. Besides the bed, he rarely saw Jiang Junlin without his glasses. Those eyes were too oppressive—cold, deep, and black, like a pool of deep autumn water.
In certain moments, Ji Chi’s most intense pleasure was ignited. Yet, brushing aside this perplexing layer of desire, he recognized them as eyes that needed glasses to conceal their sharpness.
“If that’s how you see it, then you’re undervaluing yourself.”
Jiang Junlin stood up, but Ji Chi grabbed his wrist. Ji Chi looked at Jiang Junlin with a faint emotional trace in his eyes and blurted out, “Jiang Junlin, do you like me?”
“I’m selective in my tastes, both in food and in people,” Jiang Junlin replied calmly.
The flight was slow, monotonous, especially for them, burdened with their own thoughts. Jiang Junlin felt no hint of sleepiness. Ji Chi lay on the bed, breathing evenly, seemingly asleep.
From the side view, Ji Chi’s waist-to-hip ratio was truly remarkable.
Jiang Junlin let out a sigh and drank a bit of soda water. The little wolf pup played his role of sadness so convincingly that Jiang Junlin nearly fell for it. He had a belated sense of regret.
That night, he shouldn’t have appeared at the cruise terminal.
He shouldn’t have deliberately provoked Ji Chi to handle Chen Jing. If he hadn’t tested Ji Chi, he wouldn’t have gone to the cruise, and the matter of the gold wouldn’t have raised Ji Chi’s suspicion.
Even if he calculated for Ji Chi to go to the cruise, he shouldn’t have gone to pick him up. Ji Chi might have been taken away by Chen Liangdong, and at most, he would’ve been held for a few days.
If not for that, Ji Chi wouldn’t have doubted his motives, let alone his emotions. They could have continued in this ridiculous manner for at least another six months. By then, when Ji Chi realized that his projects at Hualan Bank were only profitable, not powerful, he would’ve sensed something amiss.
His appearance on the cruise shattered all pretense. Ji Chi’s gaze lingered on him for a long time. He knew Jiang Junlin too well, which led to suspicion. Ji Chi was both suspicious and intelligent, and once doubt took root, certain things couldn’t be done.
The financial battle exposed their vulnerabilities, ending the pretense.
Jiang Junlin opened his eyes. Regrets were pointless at this stage. He had to think about how to break the deadlock. He and Ji Chi couldn’t keep fighting like this. For whatever reason, Jiang Junlin didn’t want to end up in a confrontational, life-and-death situation with Ji Chi.
But Ji Chi… he was probably contemplating how to take him down.
Killing him wasn’t an option for Ji Chi; it would only render him… powerless.
I only submit to him.
Gu Ziyu quietly appeared at the door. “Brother, can I have some dessert?”
“No!” Jiang Junlin mercilessly refused.
Gu Ziyu scratched the cabin door. “My baby teeth are loose. Isn’t it better to eat more and make them fall out sooner?”
Ji Chi stifled a laugh and stood up. “Come, 1’11 give you a piece, big brother.”
Gu Ziyu happily went over, but Jiang Junlin frowned. “Gu Ziyu!”
“I’ll just take a small bite!”
Gu Ziyu’s “small bite” equated to eating half of the dessert. His arrival eased the silence between Jiang Junlin and Ji Chi. Jiang Junlin said, “Gu Ci is a doctor. Even she doesn’t allow you to eat much. Eat a little less.”
“I’ll behave after 1 finish eating.”
This statement had a similar effect to “How can 1 lose weight if I don’t eat enough?”
After finishing the dessert, Gu Ziyu felt like having some juice. Jiang Junlin said, “1’11 ring for the flight attendant to hurry you up!”
“Okay!” Gu Ziyu complied.
Ji Chi lightly chuckled. “Why are you so addicted to sweets?”
Gu Ziyu said with a hint of sadness, “I didn’t eat enough in my past life.”
Jiang Junlin and Ji Chi stared.
“Ji Chi, is your stomach still hurting?” Gu Ziyu asked.
“Not anymore,” Ji Chi deliberately replied. “Chairman Jiang’s medicine is effective. It relieves the pain.”
Jiang Junlin looked at them conversing with smiles and suddenly realized something. The change in the young guy Ziyu was indeed significant. When he first saw him at the police station, Gu Ziyu was solitary and dark, even though he looked innocent and intentionally put on a likable expression, it couldn’t hide the aggressiveness in him.
As if he grew up in a prominent underworld family, accustomed to life and death.
Paranoid, dark, and gloomy.
He didn’t have a trace of a six-year-old’s appearance.
Nearly half a year had passed. Gu Ziyu transformed as if he shed his old skin. While he still had a touch of melancholy, he had lost that aggressive edge, and his smiles carried warmth. The bit of melancholy, against his overly exquisite features, made him resemble a melancholic little prince. Compared to their first encounter, he seemed gentler and more cheerful.
Environment and love truly can change a person!